The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-09-11

portance IL impressively brought out BY con-
trastlng the demands Of tho Southern Sem
ators embodied In the report OF the Senate,
with tho failure OF tho Northern States TO pro-
vide any Of the safeguards asked for against
recurrence OF the incident III" so ran
the report submitted BY jefferson Da-
Wis and John NJ. Mason. the several
States, whether from motives OF policy or
desire to preserve the peace Of tho Union. IL
not from fraternal feeling. do not hold II In
cumbent on them. after the experience OF the
country. TO guard in future BY appropriate
legislation against occurrences similar to the
one here inquired into tho committee can find
no guarantee elsewhere for tho security OF
peace between the States OF the Union" As
tho duty hero insisted on was unrecoRnized by
the free States, ut is" as Mr.. Higginson
says, impossible TO doubt that the enterprise
OF John Brown was an important link In the
chain OF historical events"
The qualifications Of Mr.. Oliver johnson
to prepare an adequate summary Of the work
accomplished by william Lloyd Garrison are
patent to every one acquainted with the his
tory Of the abolition movement As to how far.
II for any distance, Garrison In 1885 wa
dragged through the streets OF Boston with
rope around his body" (which certainly would
lead tho reader to suppose that the victim OF the
outrage was ct one time or another PROSTATE
on the pavement-for q man dragged along,
but keeping his feet, would present rather
ridiculous spectaclel, there Ia some disorep-
anoy Of Evidence But this fs moro detail.
and to our mind the figure Of Garrison has
been dwarfed by making too much Of
the incident. Viewed as . whole. this
article. whether we look ct Its assertions
Of fact or the spirit Of its comments, seems
almost fsultless. Yet oven Mr.. Johnson COM
petent as he is to treat tho themo. feels that
the part played by Garrison cannot be better
outlined than in the words Of Gov. John A,
Andrew. which We are glad to see quoted In
book likely to be widely oonned by genera
ton now on tho eve of assuming tho topa v1ihs.
"The generation" said Andrew. which i'm
mediately preceded ours regarded Garrison
only as wild enthusiast, . fanatic. or public
enemy. The present generation secs In him
only the bold and honest reformer, the man Of
original. self poised. heroic will. inspired BY .
vision OF universal justice made actual In tho
practice OF nations: who. daring to attack with
out reserve the worst and most powerful op-
preston Of his country and his time. has out
lived tho giant wrong he assailed. and has
triumphed over the sophistries by which twas
maintained"
The sketch Of James Buchanan. to whom. on
account OF his Administrations proximats as
ISOLATION with the severest crisis through
which any republic has passed successfully.
not less than fifteen columns have properly
been allotted. Is marked with tho Same candor
and equity which distinguished the authors
extended biography Of the Same President.
The judgment pronounced BY Mr.. George
Tioknor Curtis on tho conduct of Buchanan
during the closing crucial months Of his tenure
Of office. Is not, assuredly. the judgment our
rent In the North at the time. but that 1t will
be the ultimate judgment Of history seems
already probable. The conclusions reached in
the Life OF Buchanan" with which our road
ers are or should be conversant, are here repro
duced in substance. though not In tho same
language. The authors Wow is concisely In
dictated in the following paragraph: Mr..
Buchanan would not initiate civil war; his
policy was entirely defensive; and yet he did
all that he could, constitutionally. to avert
war. 1t has often been asked, Why did Mr..
Buchanan suffer State after State to 20 out OF
the Union7 Why did he not call on the North
for volunteers and put down rebellion In its
first stage2 The President had no power to
call for volunteers under any existing law.
Congress during tho whole winter refused to
pass any law to provide him with men or
money. In the application OF all tho means
he omitted no step that could have been taken
with safety; and at the Inauguration OF Mr.
Lincoln Major Anderson not only held Fort
Sumter. but had held 1t down to that time in
perfect confidence that he could maintain his
position"
II the editors desired an appreciative. not to
say eulogstic estimate Of Bryant. they made
no mistake In inviting Mr.. R. d. stoddard to
contribute it. We had supposed that the
Bryant cult, rs distinguished from calm de-
termination Of tho value Of his poetry by COM
parative analysis, was BY this time extinct. but
1t seems that at least ono impassioned devotee
survives. 1t Is true that comparisons are not
by any means eschewed by Mr.. Stoddard. but
as they are either drawn from shooting stars
that flashed an hour but long since dropped to
earth. or else from unmatched luminaries Of
the poetic armament, they fail to convince us
Of Bryant's mighty and perennial radiance
Thus, whom We hear that some lines In southey
and Kirke White suggested 'ThanRtopsis, ,"
we can easily believe 1t. but We do not
see why, on that account, the lines In question
deserve to be printed In letters OF gold"
Neither do We deny that for some readers It
may be instructive to compare Mscaulay's
conventional heroics with the spirited Spen-
serian stanzas OF Bryant" but we doubt
whether such collocation would edify those
who think, with Mr.. Matthew Arnold. that
MscaulRy's verse really has no title to the
name OF poetry at ALL Feeling. apparently.
that thus far he had pitched his strain too low,
the author Of this rhapsody falls into what
most persons will deem a graver error, by
striking note 80 high as to crack their ears.
II not his voice. Used Is we are to cool
assurance from the encomiasts Of native
productions, we were not prepared for
the assertion that, as q describer Of nature.
Bryant had no superior in poetry" the i'm
piled prominence over Wordsworth being
pointed by an immediate reference to The
Excursion" as 81 tiresome poem" Anything
unique has at least o certain claim to value.
aud II one truly looks upon Bryant as greater
poet than Wordsworth In the latters favorite
walk. he may be congratulated on possessing
a solitaire. As to Bryant's translation OF the
Had and the Odyssey. We are told In sue
cinct and authoritative way that, "if not tho
bost that the English language is capable of.
1t Is In many respects the best that any Eng
lish-writing poet has yet produced" II Mr..
Stoddard had deigned to specify one Of the